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Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as head coach got off to a winning start as Suryakumar Yadav-led India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series. On July 30, India suffered a batting collapse but Suryakumar and Rinku Singh turned out to be unlikely heroes with the ball in death overs and took the game into super over where India won comprehensively, thanks to Washington Sundar’s double strike. Gambhir congratulated Suryakumar for the series win as Rohit Sharma’s successor and lauded the team for fighting till the end.
“Guys, congratulations on a great series win. Congratulations to Surya as well, outstanding captaincy and more importantly with the bat as well. Guys, I asked for something before the start of the game and you absolutely delivered it. This is what happens when you keep fighting. You don't give up. These kind of games happen, and the only way these games can happen is when we keep fighting on every delivery and for every run,” he said in the dressing room in a video posted by BCCI.
Gambhir wants batters to assess the conditions better
Gambhir wanted the batters to learn that they should assess the conditions and set a par score.
“And this was the example we keep getting better, we keep improving our skills as well, because we need to still get better on playing on wickets like these, because we might end up getting these kinds of wickets. So we should first assess the situation and conditions really quickly and what is the par score as well. There is a lot of learning from this game, but more important than not this is a great series win," he added.
Gambhir’s message – Keep fitness levels high
Gambhir wants players like Hardik Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Rinku Singh and others who are not part of the ODI series to maintain their fitness during the long break. He expects the players’ fitness levels to be high when they return for the T20I series against Bangladesh starting October 6.
"Some of the guys, who will not be part of the 50-over format, will have a longer break, you absolutely deserve it, but make sure when you come back for the Bangladesh series, keep your skills and specially the fitness levels high. You don't want to come for that series thinking that, okay, I can just turn up and probably deliver for the team. So make sure that from the fitness point of view, the fitness levels are right up there. Okay, congratulations once again, Hardik is going to wrap it up."
Now, the focus moves to the ODI series that starts on August 2. The ODI series is important considering the Champions Trophy 2025.
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